1961-10-28 Joe Brown w pts 15 Bert Somodio, Araneta Coliseum, Manila, Philippines - WORLD. Referee: Arch Hindman. Scorecards: 72-62, 71-65, 72-66. Despite making a good start and doing well during the opening four rounds, Somodio (135) soon found out that Brown (135) had bided his time while having a good look at his challenger. Opening up in the fifth, Brown momentarily dropped Somodio before shaking the latter up in the seventh and cutting his left eye. Keeping on top with clever tactics, Brown dropped Somodio for ‘nine’ in the 11th with a right-left to the jaw and for the remaining sessions expertly countered the latter as he tried to make a grandstand finish. Although Somodio had done his best it was not enough and he went down by a wide margin on the scorecards.

Finally, it was announced that Brown would defend his title against Carlos Ortiz, who had been chasing him for several years. Ortiz had gone pro early in 1955 and had run up 29 wins from 32 bouts before operating in the newly structured junior welterweight division as champion while waiting for Brown to put up the title. Having lost the junior title to Duilio Loi on 10 May, wins over Doug Vaillant (w pts 10 on 2 September at the Auditorium, Miami, Florida) and Paolo Rosi (w pts 10 on 18 November at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York) made it impossible for Brown to avoid Ortiz any longer.